Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (3rd ed, 1768, vol I).djvu/32

16 .” And the tatutes of the univerity of Cambridge peak exprely to the ame effect.

the general ue and neceity of ome acquaintance with the common law, the inference were extremely eay, with regard to the propriety of the preent intitution, in a place to which gentlemen of all ranks and degrees reort, as the fountain of all ueful knowlege. But how it has come to pas that a deign of this ort has never before taken place in the univerity, and the reaon why the tudy of our laws has in general fallen into diue, I hall previouly proceed to enquire.

John Fortecue, in his panegyric on the laws of England, (which was written in the reign of Henry the ixth) puts a very obvious quetion in the mouth of the young prince, whom he is exhorting to apply himelf to that branch of learning; “why the laws of England, being o good, o fruitful, and o commodious, are not taught in the univerities, as the civil and canon laws are?” In anwer to which he gives what eems, with due deference be it poken, a very jejune and unatisfactory reaon; being in hort, that “as the proceedings at common law were in his time carried on in three different tongues, the Englih, the Latin, and the French, that cience mut be necearily taught in thoe three everal languages; but that in the univerities all ciences were taught in the Latin tongue only; and therefore he concludes, that they could not be conveniently taught or tudied in our univerities.” But without attempting to examine eriouly the validity of this reaon, (the very hadow of which by the widom of your late contitutions is entirely taken away) we perhaps may find out a better, or at leat a more plauible account, why the tudy of the municipal laws has been banihed from thee eats of cience, than what the learned chancellor thought it prudent to give to his royal pupil.